Paul Le Bourdiec · 1973
This article presents the second installment of the Atlas of Madagascar, published in 1971, and assesses its production, contents, and scholarly significance. Conceived as Madagascar’s first national atlas, the project was completed through voluntary cooperation among nearly forty French and Malagasy teachers and researchers, with support from academic and research institutions and, after initial subsidies were exhausted, revenue from 1,500 subscriptions. Although publication was delayed, the additional time and funding enabled the editorial team to improve cartographic clarity, add colors and supplementary maps, update statistical information, and expand explanatory notes. The second installment covers twenty major themes through thirty-four plates, generally at a scale of 1:4,000,000. Its subjects include climate, hydrology, exploration history, archaeological sites, ethnic groups, population distribution, urban systems, migration, agriculture, forestry, energy, transport, telecommunications, education, tourism, religion, regional divisions, and development projects. Compared with the 1969 installment, it places greater emphasis on human and economic geography because these fields required new documentation and extensive fieldwork, whereas physical geography could draw on an established research base. The resulting maps therefore incorporate relatively recent data and provide practical resources for administration, planning, education, commerce, and research. The author acknowledges that the atlas remains incomplete and cannot match the production standards of major industrialized countries; topics such as fauna, housing forms, dialects, and endemic diseases were omitted. Nevertheless, its removable binding permits outdated plates to be revised, making the atlas an evolving body of knowledge rather than a static publication. Overall, the completed atlas constitutes a coherent national reference work, supports the adaptation of geography teaching to Malagasy realities, encourages future regional atlases and an expanded second edition, and exemplifies international scholarly cooperation and the university’s integration into national development.
